Building a static lib without C/C++ runtime in Visual Studio

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Is there a way to build a static library without specifying the version of C/C++ runtime?

I'm using Visual Studio 2017 to build a static lib, and I have to specify a version for "Runtime Library" in the "Code Generation" option page (\MD or \MT). If I choose one version and the application using my lib chooses another, Visual Studio will spit out the error: mismatch detected for 'RuntimeLibrary': value 'MD_DynamicRelease' doesn't match value 'MT_StaticRelease'.

I know, when building an EXE, I can use the linker switch \NODEFAULTLIB to not include C/C++ runtime, but I'm building a static lib here which doesn't even have the Linker option page in its Properties window.

It seems that Simple DirectMedia Layer found a way to do.

Update: I later realized that I could actually turn on \NODEFAULTLIB switch in the Librarian option page in the static lib's Properties window.

crt visual-studio c++
2 Answers

You do it by NOT using any Runtime libraries. If you don't use any of the runtime libraries then the "Code Generation" option is meaningless as the runtime stubs are not pulled into obj file.

SDL basically say this on there web site:

On Windows, SDL does not depend on a C runtime at all, not even for malloc().

As soon as you use any system include supplied by Microsoft VS then you are using there runtime library.

So if you only use the Windows SDK and the API supplied by the Win32 API then you don't need the VC runtime.

Shane_Powell_232350

If you build a static library, it refers to your own library and not to the application as a whole. If you want to distribute the application, it just means that you will not need to distribute a separate dll. So do not set NODEFAULTLIB.

If you run the application on a machine where there is no Visual Studio 2017 installed, you might get an error message. The missing dlls are system libraries that are needed to run vs applications that are compiled with VS2017. You can get the missing libraries from: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads (this link is not guaranteed to be correct in the future). The redistributable dlls can be distributed freely. They are called vc_redist.x86.exe and vc_redist.x64.exe. Choose vc_redist.x86.exe if you have compiled you code for 32-bits. It does not refer to the machine on which the app is run.

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